Combination steam and dry iron



Sept. 30, 1958 z. A. M. BURRESON COMBINATION STEAM AND DRY IRON 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

Filed Deo. l, 1953 ON NN mm 1N mm Sept.. 30, 1958 '2. A. M. BURRESON COMBINATION STEAM AND DRY IRON 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Dec. 1. 1955 ll eso-5G INVEIVTOR. ZINA A. M. BURRESON United States Patent vCOMBINATION STEAM vANDDRY IRON Zina A. M. Burreson, Mansfield, Ohio, assigner to 'Dominion Electric VvCorporation .Application December Y1, 1953, Serial No.'395,'41.0

Claims. (Cl. 38-77) This invention relates to combination steam and rdry pressing irons. Such irons eject steam from the ironing surface or sole plate thereof to dampen the workbeng ironed.

An important object of the invention is to provide the ironing surface with steam ejection porting which improves steam distribution to the ironing surface, and increases the continuity of thissurface.

Another object is to provide improved means for connecting the sole plate with the steam chamber of the iron, and which cooperate in providing the ironing surfacewith endless steam ejection porting which opens throughout its 'entire length into this. surface with a minimum interruption inthecontinuity of this smooth ironingl Figurelf's a side elevation of the iron with ltheffor-` A'ward-lend thereof s'howrr in vertical'section;

Figure 2 is afbottom'iplaniof' the toe end ofthe iron- `v -ing surface'provide'd With'one'form of steam ejection *"Figure *3 vvis #a fsimilar LVViewY- illustrating Yanother form 'oflsteamf-ejec-tion porting; Y

Figure 4f`is`-a Jbottomjelevation:of a portion. of the *ironing suiface-` illustratingaa "modification offthe porting`Y =shown-n5Figure3 andv with the plug. removed;

`Figure5 is -an enlargedffragmentaryvertical sectional View 41Athrough 'a -portioncf the sole plate taken v on .the

line 5-15 of Figure 2; v l

Figureff f-is-a-sim`ilar view`ftaken `on.'the' line 6-l6 of fFigure'? is an-enlarged horizontal section taken. 'through fthe@soleplateftakenton1theIine77 ofFigure'l.

tThepresenttinventionecan `be applied'to anyitypeof i steam irontand includes a soleeplate10having asrnooth ggbot-tom'iroiring-`surfaceil'ltand an-upper ribbed surface i with which is associated-an'electrical'heating element'lZ embedded within the sole plate during casting. thereof. AAGliquidatight tank or reservoirt1'3 in"'the"form of a hollo'w rcasingihasaclosed bottom `1'4f-brazed.or otherwisek vfsecuredjjfthereto and isformedwith ribs toengagefthe ribbed surfacexof the: s'ole plate' to conduct heat frornlhe heating element towaterjin 'thereservoirandconvert it into steam. The bottom.l14 -isl recessed as at .ISttoen- 'close Laconventional .adiustable thermostat 16 .and f the ice usual electrical leads or wires 17 for the'iron. The iron is provided with the conventional heat regulating control knob 16' by which the thermostat may be setto control the temperature of the iron. The container or casing 13 forms a Water tank or reservoir and has a vertical water bathe 18 therein to prevent excessive movement of the water back and forth during ironing operations. The top of the container 13 near its toe-end has a circular recess 18 having an opening in itsbottom wall to permit the escape of steam generatedabove the body of Water in the reservoir. Seated andbrazed within this recess is the lower end of a substantially vertical waterilling tube 19 which also forms a steam chamber 2 0, and the upper vend of this tube is externally screw threaded, as illustrated.

A plastic or composition heat insulating handle 21 has a forward pedestal end 22 provided with a bore .23, the upper end of which is enlarged to provide azrecess and shoulder 24. The handle 21 is assembled with the iron bypassing ,this forward end 22 down over the tube 19 after which a sleeve nut 25 is screwed upon the upper threaded end of the tube 19 until the sleeve bottoms upon the shoulder 24 to securely fasten the handle in place. It will be noted that the upper vend of this sleeve nut projects slightly labove the Itop surface of -the pedestal portion 22 of thehandle. The forward end of the handle is recessed, as at 26, to-receive a ller cap 27 having a contour to conform with the general shape of the for- -ward end of lthe handle. This .'iller cap is provided with a depending circular stud 2 8, which is freely slidable into the sleeve nut 2S, andis provided 4with a reduced end providing a shoulder29 against which is seated an elastic O-ring 30. A metal washer 31 larger in diatneter thanthis reduced end is mounted on the end of the stud by means of ascrew 32 and forms an outer retaining wall to preventdisplacement ofthe Vo-ring. ,By tightening the screw 32, nthe washer 3 1 will be forced against the .O-ring to compressit to-the desired 4degree against the shoulder 29 .and cause it vto expand .variable distancesLbeyond theperiphery ofthe stud 28 to it tightly within the sleeve .nut '25 and form a steam seal ,therewith.

Thehandle portion 21 of the iron integrally connects small nibs 35 on ,its bottom surface toslightly space the handle above the topy of the Acasing13 forheat insulation purposes. The rear` portionofthis handle is also secured to the sole plate 10 by means of a screw, notshown, which Ypassesthrough a 'boss 36 projectiuginto thetop of the heel portion of the casingj13. The rearstandard 33 of-the handle'is lhollowed out for thepassageof the electrical lead wires, and this4 cavity is yclosed by a vremovable back cover 37 fastened to thefhandle by a screw, not shown. p

'Steam accumulation ofthe top ofreservoirll and in the chamber '20 of the filling tube j19-is directed tothe soleplate lil by. an open ended steam tube 38 having its upper end internally threadedand provided-with lateral ports `39. A bell-shapedshield 40 is secured to the upper end of the tube38 byme-ans of Aafscrevv 41 and it will .be noted that the skirt of this bell-shapedshield lilares outwardly intoa lip 40 which is arranged below the lateral ports 39 to prevent any waterfrorn, entering the steam tube 38 when'the reservoir isbeingffilled andthe iron is heated from previous-use. Without this `shield or deflector 40, it'has been found :that when the iron .is hot from previous ,use and water is poured into thejiller 'tube19 to replenish water in the reservoir 13, thisA enter- -Y 3 ing water will flow down in contact with the steam tube 38 and will be sucked into the same through the ports 39, due to the syphoning action set up in the tube 38 by the residual heat inthe iron. The outwardly flared deflector 4@ deects the Water being poured into the liller tube 19 away from the Steam' ports 39 to prevent the water from/being sucked into the steam tube 38 and from running out through the steam porting in the sole plate 11. Furthermore, this baffle 40 covers the upper end of the steam tube 38 to shed any drops of condensed steam away from the lateral steam ports 39 during the normal operation of the iron. The steam tube 38 is arranged concentric within the filling tube 19, and its lower end is brazed into a fitting 42, which in turn is brazed in an opening inthe bottom 14 of the reservoir. VThe fitting 42 extends below the bottom of the reservoir to terminate in` a lower externally threaded end 43.

To increase the steam ejection area of the ironing surface 11 of the sole plate with minimum interruption of this smooth ironing'surface, the following construction is provided. Broadly, this is Vaccomplished by providing the ironing surface with endless porting which opens throughout the entire length of the porting into the ironing surface and increases the lcontinuity of the porting and the ironing surface. The sole plate is provided with a recess or cavity 44, which opens out into the ironing surface 11. This recess is provided with a fiat bottom wall 45 parallel with the ironing surface 11, and this bottom wall is provided with an opening 45 adapted to receive the projecting portion of the iitting'42 when the sole plate isassembled with the casing 13. The lower end of the steam recess or cavity 44is enlarged as at 47, to open out into the smooth ironing surface 11. This enlargement 47 may be referred to as a circular depression surrounding the Vlower open end of this recess 44. This enlarged end 47 or depression provides the recess or cavity with an annular at Wall 48, which is parallel with the ironing surface. It also provides the recess with anl annular vertical wall 49, which surrounds the recess 44 to form in effect the annular depression just referred to.

InV order to provide means for attaching the toe end of the sole plate to the casing 13 and to provide the ironing surface 11 with a more extensive steam ejection area or porting, a novel plug 50 is employed. This plug is provided with a threaded bore 51 closed at its bottom near the polished ironing surface 54 of the plug. The closed end of the bore S1 terminates in a tapered cup-shape depression 52 in which any drops of moisture accidentally entering the steam tube 39 may be caught thereby and converted into steam. 'Ihe upper end of the plug is provided with a circular flange S5 which seats firmly against the bottom wall 45 of the recess 44 when the plug is screwed home on the lower threaded end 43 of the fitting 42. When the parts are in this position, an outer enlarged circular flange 56 of the plug is positioned .so that the ironing surface 54 of the plug is flush with or arranged slightly above the plane of the polished ironing surface 11 of the sole plate. At the sameV time, the upper surface 57 of the flange 56 is spaced from the fiat surface 48 of the depression or enlargement 47 to provide a circular or endless steam passage 58 which "communicates with the recess 44 surrounding the body portion 59 of the plug 50. It will also be observed that the diameter of this outer flange 56 is less than the diameter of the enlarged end 47 of the recess 44 to provide an endless or circular steam ejection port 60 opening into the ironing surface 11 and entirely surrounding the ange 56. The body 59 of this plug is of smaller diameter than the recess 44 to provide a steam chamber 61 therein and steam is entered therein from the fitting 42 and thence to the plug 50 after which it passes through a series of radial ports 62 into the chamber 61. The bottom polished surface 54 of the plug may be provided with Spanner wrench holes 64 to facilitate its assembly in the recess 44. lf desired, the plug S0 may have a central circular hole 4' extending from the surface 52, shown in Figure 5, to open out into the polished bottom surface 54 to provide an additional central steam ejection port.

ln the modification shown in Figure 6, the ilat bottom wall 48 of the enlargement or depression 47 is provided with a series of grooves 62 extending radially with re spect to the recess 44 to enlarge the area of the passage 58. These grooves are not necessary in the operation of the iron and are an incident of casting the sole plater When they are included in the casting of a sole plate,v they are arranged in longitudinal alignment with a series of steam ejection grooves 63 cast in the sole plate and opening into the ironing surface 11, as shown in Figures l and 3. Usually, three of such straight grooves 63 are provided, one being arranged longitudinally along the center line of the sole plate and ironing surface and extending toward the toe, while the other two grooves diverge from the enlargement or depression 47 to extend laterally and rearwardly toward the sides of they ironing surface, as illustrated. When such straight grooves are employed, their inner ends communicate with the enlarged end 47 of recess 44 and with the annular steam ejection port 60. Thus, the grooves 63'are connected together by the annular ejection port and their steam outlet capacity is thereby lengthened both transversely and longitudinally of the ironing surface so that there are no dead end steam passages across the entire width of the ironing surface.

The prior art has employed a plug to direct team from an annular closed recess to a series of grooves, but this plug was seated in this recess to cut off its steam ejection directly into the ironing surface except through the grooves 63. The plug of the present invention has its ange or plate 56 held spaced from the bottom 48 of the annular recess or depression 47 and thereby provides for the creation of the annular port 60 opening throughout its entire length Vor circuit directly into the ironing surface to eject steam thereto in a circular pattern. Such open annular port preferably has itscenter arranged on the longitudinal center line of the ironing Vsurface to improve distribution of steam directly to the work being ironed. When such an open annular port 60 is used in conjunction with the conventional straight grooves 63, it not only increases the length of such grooves, both longitudinally and transversely of the ironing surface, but creates steam ejection porting having varying widths as will be appreciated from Figure 3, where the grooves 63 are shown as being much wider than the width of the annular port 60. By use of various shaped grooves or ports of different size or area, at different locations on the ironing surface, the amount of steam ejected at various locations can be nicely controlled. As stated earlier, the annular port 60 may be used to connect the various straightV grooves 63 to regulate the amount of steam ejected along a center line of the ironing surface, and the relative locations and widths of these grooves and porting may be varied to give any other desired steam distribution to the ironing surface.

Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention fas hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A steam iron comprising, a casing having a combined water lling tube and steam chamber therein, a

sole plate for said casing having an ironing surface provided with steam ejection porting, a steam conduit extending from said porting into said combined Water lling tube and steam chamber, the upper end of said steam conduit extending to the upper portion of said steam chamber andhaving lateralporting for the entrance of steam into said conduit, and a bell-shaped shield secured to the upper end portion of said conduit and having an outwardly flared skirt depending below said lateral porting and terminating in an outwardly extending lip.

2. In a steam iron, a casing having a reservoir, a combined water filling tube and steam chamber communicating with said reservoir, a sole plate connected to said casing and having an ironing surface with steam ejection porting, heating means for said sole plate and reservoir, a steam conduit extending from said porting into said water lling tube with its upper end arranged in said steam chamber and provided with lateral porting for the en trance of steam into said steam conduit, said steam conduit having a syphoning action on the contents of said steam chamber when the iron is heated, and a water deflector mounted by the upper end of said steam conduit and havinga skirt depending below said lateral porting to deect Water entering said iilling tube away from said lateral porting in said steam tube to prevent it from -being sucked therein by said syphoning action of said steam tube.

3. in a steam iron, a casing having a reservoir, a combined water lling tube and steam chamber communieating with said reservoir, a sole plate connected to said casing and having an ironing surface with Steam ejection porting, a water filling closure located directly above said com-bined water lling tube and steam chamber, heating means for said sole plate and reservoir, a steam conduit extending from said porting into said water lling tube and concentrically therewith with its upper open end arranged in said steam chamber and provided with lateral p-orting for the entrance -of steam into the steam conduit, said steam tube having a syphoning action on the contents of said steam chamber when the iron is heated, and a water deector having a plug inserted in said upper end of said steam conduit to close the same and having a skirt depending below said lateral porting to deflect water entering said filling tube away from said lateral porting to prevent it from being sucked therein by said syphoning action of said steam tube.

4. A steam iron including a casing forming a reservoir, a sole plate having an ironing surface, steam distributing means for distributing steam to said ironing surface, steam conduit means for transmitting `steam from said reservoir to said steam distributing means, said steam distributing means comprising a circular recess wall eX- tending from said ironing surface into said sole plate, -a counter-bore wall extending from said ironing surface into said sole plate and surrounding said recess wall, a plug secured within said recess wall and having a flanged lower end portion residing within said counterbore wall, a portion of said plug adjacent said recess Wall being reduced to form a circular steam chamber, the walls of said ange being spaced from said counterbore wall to form a continuous circular steam passageway from said steam chamber opening into said ironing surface, said plug having an opening communicating with said steam conduit means and having lateral porting means communicating with said steam chamber, said circular steam chamber being wider than said circular steam passageway whereby steam transmitted to said circular steam chamber tends to distribute around said circular chamber before passing through said circular steam passageway thus giving a substantially uniform passage of steam throughout the entire circular extent of said circular steam passageway.

5. A steam iron including a casing forming a reservoir, a sole plate having an ironing surface, steam distributing means for distributing steam to said ironing surface, steam conduit means for transmitting steam from said reservoir to said steam distributing means, said steam distributing means comprising an lannular' recess wall extending from said ironing vservice into said sole plate, a depression wall extending from said ironing surface into said sole plate and surrounding said recess wall, a plug secured within said recess wall and having a flanged lower end porti-on residing Within said depression wall, a portion of said plug being reduced to form an annular steam chamber, the walls of said flange being spaced from :said depression wall to form a continuous annular steam passageway from said annular steam chamber Iopening into said ironing surface, said plug having an open-ing communicating with said steam conduit means and having porting communicating with said steam chamber, means including the relative sizes of said annular steam passageway and said annular steam chamber to cause steam introduced into said steam charnber through said porting to distribute annularly around said annular steam chamber and pass through said annular steam passageway to give a substantially uniform annular pattern of steam from said ironing surface.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

